Quote Originally Posted by KnottedYet View Post
one of the shop guys told me it would be cheaper to buy an entire bike and then swap all the components to the Soma frame rather than buying the components seperately. That was an eye-opener! I checked prices, and for what I wanted to do he was right!
That's what I am doing also, it really is cheaper. It was one of the reasons I started looking for manufactures which had a custom build program. You still get (some)what you want for cheap price and then afterwards to get around the table with the bike shop guy and start upgrading or changing the bike. He keeps the new (unused) stuff from the bike (the parts which you didn't like) and puts on the stuff that you do want want for a small (or even none) extra price.

In my example I don't like the 'standard program' Mavic Ksyrium Elite wheels, they have to much failures. But I could try to get the bike shop so far to swap them for Easton Circuits which are priced almost the same but are much more reliable.